Posted
by
Zonkon Thursday October 06, 2005 @03:03PM
from the watch-what-you-click dept.

Evangelion writes "PSP hackers beware! According to 1up.com today, Symantec has identified the first PSP Trojan in the wild. Known as Trojan.PSPBrick, it turns the PSP into, well, a brick. With buttons. Users have to download and install it themselves, and as a result it effectively breaks the PSP."

Wait, so I actually read TFA and I didn't see any details here. If the hack takes out user buttons, what's to stop it from taking out all other I/O? How do you remove a virus when you have no way to actually get your machine to interact with anything in the real world? The symantec report says removal is "difficult". What if someone accidentally downloads this virus, then isn't able to use their PSP anymore because they can't wipe the memory clean? Who is responsible then? Does Sony have to give them a brand new PSP? Do they have to physically open the device and set a jumper to clear the memory? I want to know the implications of the virus, not just "there's a virus, and it's bad".

It doesn't just take out the buttons; it flashes the firmware with junk, preventing the PSP from even booting.

What if someone accidentally downloads this virus, then isn't able to use their PSP anymore because they can't wipe the memory clean? Who is responsible then?

The user is, of course. The trojan is disguised as a firmware downgrader, and there's no way in hell that Sony is going to reimburse a person who was trying to "hack" their PSP. I'm pretty sure that there's something in the PSP boilerplate that covers that, but I'm too lazy to look.

Do they have to physically open the device and set a jumper to clear the memory?

There is no jumper. The memory has to be rewritten by an EEPROM programmer, which I doubt that any normal user is going to have access to. Sony won't send you a new PSP, and I don't doubt that, if anyone out there were able to reflash the PSP's firmware, Sony would be suing them under the DMCA or something.

In other words, this trojan turns your PSP into a $250 paperweight/brick, hence the name.